Expenses for public education have been increasing, and the proportion of our Colorado State Budget spent on public education each year, continues to increase. This more-than-proportional increase each year, takes a larger chunk of the total of all other costs in our state. The same goes for county expenses for education.

Part of the problem is the irresponsible amount of money put toward retirement (also increases in other expenses). Raises sound great, except the money isn’t there. Wouldn’t it be best (understatement) to stop with the generosity.

Walker Stapleton has, for years, been trying to influence those in charge of the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) to take measures necessary to reign in reckless wasteful spending, and begin to deal with the $30 billion in unfunded liabilities.

PERA needs to stop acting like “government” and be more responsible with our money.

Over the protests of Colorado’s state treasurer, the head of the state’s retirement system received a 3 percent salary increase on Tuesday – his second raise in just over a year – bringing his salary to nearly $406,000 in 2017.

Greg Smith, chief executive of the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association, also will receive an incentive payment of 20 percent for leading the $47 billion, 300-employee retirement system, which amounts to nearly $79,000. Smith’s current salary is $394,000.

State Treasurer Walker Stapleton, an ex-officio, voting member of PERA’s board of trustees – and a longtime critic of the system – assailed the raise, pointing out that the pension fund for the state’s more than 547,000 members faces about $30 billion in unfunded liabilities. Continue reading →

July 22nd, Helen Neal sent out a notice of the first 2016-2017 school year Jefferson County Colorado School Board (Jeffco BOE) special meeting – study/dialogue session. Helen is Chief of Staff Superintendent/Board of Education. Near the end of this blog is a link with more information and information about the meeting. There you will find information telling you how to get on the notification email list concerning all school board meetings (three or more a month).
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Because of what public schools have become, I am sad

to see the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year in Jefferson County, Colorado. I have witnessed this mess progressively developing since I became aware of the problems in the 1960s.

Some of you may not be aware that schools are not what the taxpayer thinks they are paying for.

Some things that sadden me:

Parents, once again, will be told how great their children are doing (or how miserable they are doing, and that they need to be put on drugs, and fixed by the system). Parents will be told how wonderful the schools are, and how excellent their school district is, compared to other school districts (but not told that all school districts keep declining every year).

Most students will be stressed because of all the pressure to “perform” — caused by the lack of tools they have been given to succeed in school (like reading!). A huge percentage of students are put on mind-control drugs to make them more docile/compliant. Most kids don’t want to hurt their teachers and their school, so their own failures to perform will put more pressure on them — they will miss the chance to experience excitement in learning and the adventure of exploring and discovering — they will not enjoy school — they will be dumbed down.

Teachers will be overburdened and discouraged by the controls and requirements that will be forced on them. They will use their teaching skills less this year, and they will increasingly be relegated to being “room monitors” while “experts” and computers will individually “school each student.” They will continue gathering every bit of information they possibly can, on each of their students, and coordinating with every person who has contact with each student. All the information on a child will continue to be gathered and placed on a dashboard, to make it easier for each child to be analyzed by more people.

The public will be told that the schools must have more money, in order to better teach students. It is not true. Increased amounts of money keep being poured into the schools — and the results are: more social experiments and social engineering — less education — less morality — and more poorly-educated people.

At https://www.copera.org/, you read that: “Colorado PERA provides retirement and other benefits to more than 500,000 current and former teachers, State Troopers, snowplow drivers, corrections officers, and other public employees who provide valuable services to all of Colorado.”